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Uber Riders Report High Fees From 'Vomit Fraud' And Ghost Trips

This Tuesday, June 12, 2018, file photo shows the Uber app on a phone in New York. (Credit: AP... [+] Photo/Richard Drew, File)

Some Uber passengers have been discovering hard-to-fight charges on their accounts for events they say never happened, including rides to nowhere and spills of "significant quantities of body fluids."

The Miami Heraldreported this week that an influx of Uber riders in Florida have reported erroneous charges to their accounts for a practice that's being called "vomit fraud," among other issues.

Numerous riders told the Herald's Spanish-language sister paper, el Nuevo Herald, that they had recently been assessed fees of between $16 and $300 for false services or behavior, including several instances where drivers claimed that passengers had vomited in their cars, but riders later argued—upon discovering the charges—that they did not.

Because of the time and fares that drivers can lose if a passenger makes a big mess in their vehicles, taxi and livery companies have long been in the practice of charging customers who toss their cookies en route an extra fee—usually an amount specified for interior vs. exterior spills.

Created along these lines, Uber's policy is that passengers who vomit or spill their drink on seats or other hard-to-clean surfaces are assessed a fee of $80, which later shows up on their credit cards and as a notification from the app. In the case of “significant quantities of body fluids (urine, blood or vomit) in the interior of the vehicle” that charge rises to $150.

A spokesperson for Uber commented by email, “Participating in fraudulent activity of any kind is a clear violation of our Community Guidelines. We are constantly evaluating our processes and technology related to these claims and will take appropriate action whenever fraud may be detected.”

According to riders interviewed, they have often struggled at length to reverse charges from cases of vomit fraud as well as more run-of-the-mill "ghost ride" scenarios.

One journalist reported that she ordered an Uber that never showed up, after which she canceled the trip and ordered a ride from another driver. She said she later found she had been charged $16 for the ride she didn't take, plus a $6 cancellation fee and a $150 fee for vomiting in that vehicle.

According to the Herald, Uber agreed to give her a refund after a series of four emails from that journalist, calling the event “an uncomfortable experience because the driver started the trip without you in the car.” Another rider reported getting two false vomit fees in one night, totaling $300 and two separate cases of alleged fraud.

Uber told el Nuevo Herald that it is “actively looking into reports where fraud may be detected and will take appropriate actions on those accounts," and that “the vast majority of cleaning fee reports are legitimately the result of someone making a mess in the car."

Uber also commented to the Herald and other outlets, “With 15 million trips a day, Uber is unfortunately not immune to these types of incidents.”

As Gizmodo pointed out, Uber is basically right in noting that its driver and rider pool are enormous, and that the majority of Uber trips seem to pass by without major incident.

At the same time, it's also worth noting that the majority of totally honest Uber drivers struggle to pull a decent wage from the ride-hail service, especially full-time drivers, and that repeated instances of fraudulent charges and attacks on riders and drivers have already drawn attention to the company's seemingly undersized complaints department.

For now, it seems the best thing that prudent riders can do to avoid charges for nonexistent rides or vomit is to check their credit card statements regularly, and—whenever possible, as much for decency's sake as self-protection—to be thoughtful of drivers own experience, and tip them well.

I'm a freelance writer covering tech, media, science, and culture. My background includes the areas of writing, editing, and education, and I received Bachelor and Master

…

I'm a freelance writer covering tech, media, science, and culture. My background includes the areas of writing, editing, and education, and I received Bachelor and Master of Arts Degrees from the University of British Columbia and California State University, East Bay, respectively. My work's also been published by mental_floss, AlterNet, Salon, and the Atlantic's CityLab, among others. For more of it, check out my online portfolio at janetburns.contently.com or my cannabis news and culture podcast at patreon.com/TheToke.